


Machine Spirits: Digital Beings!

by Zero_Harmony



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-03
Updated: 2014-10-25
Packaged: 2017-11-13 11:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/503294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zero_Harmony/pseuds/Zero_Harmony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the grim darkness of the far future Digital Plane, five children and their digital partners fight to survive a harsh world that will stop at nothing to kill them... If they do not kill each other first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tamas the Steel Worker

Tamas yawned as he woke up from his nap, pleasantly surprised to not have been woken up by his father or another of the manufactorum’s workers. At first Tamas was busy readjusting his crimson long coat as he stood up, but when he blinked and looked around at his new surroundings, he began to wonder if they had instead opted to play a prank on him instead.

The ubiquitously brown stone that surrounded him, forming sloping grounds and pillars, was nothing like the dark grey metal he had fallen asleep leaning against. His father had a habit of threatening to throw Tamas out for napping after school, but Tamas never dreamed that he would carry out the threat. Tamas scanned the horizon around him, looking for the sloping spire of his hive city. He knew there were some unconverted sections of his home planet, but they were small areas and more importantly, his father would never travel so far from the city just for the sake of a prank.

Tamas shivered as he began to consider that this might not be a prank, but a God-Emperor honest exile for sloth. But surely he would never be exiled without warning. Then again, his father had given him many warnings.

“What are you looking for?” An oddly gravely yet high-pitched, childish voice said from behind Tamas.

“Telris Hive.” Tamas said as he turned to voice the speaker. He recoiled as he found it to be a green reptile nearly as large as himself.

“What?” It asked, in that same strange voice, tilting its crested head as it looked at Tamas.

“Xenos!” Tamas screeched in fear, stumbling away and falling flat on his back.

“Oh, do you need help?” The reptile asked offering an overly muscular hand as big as Tamas’s head with claws the size of combat knives. Tamas scrambled onto his feet and tried to run away, only to trip on another rock and fall on his face, work goggles pressing into his forehead as he hit the ground.

“Why are you running?” The reptile said in the same innocent but confused voice.

“Because you’re trying to eat me.” Tamas yelled in reply.

“I am? I thought I was trying to eat bread.” Suddenly, the reptile paused as it got an idea. “Do you have any bread?” Tamas twisted around onto his back and glared at the reptile.

“Will you cut that out? You’re not going to trick me, xenos.” Tamas put special emphasis on the last word.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” The lizard asked, tilting its head and tapping a claw on its mouth in confusion.

“Because you are one. A xenos. An alien.” Tamas said, struggling back onto his shaking legs and staring the lizard down.

“An alien! Where?” The lizard started looking around in fright, making Tamas slap his hand against the goggles on his forehead.

“No, you’re the alien.” The boy said in exasperation. Was he really going to die at the hands of _this_ excuse for a monster? Heck, those giant eyes made it almost look cute.

“Me, an alien? Don’t be silly.” The lizard said waving a claw in disdain. “I’m Saldramon.”

“Oh dear God-Emperor, just leave me alone.” Tamas exclaimed, turning away and running his hands through his spiky brown hair.

“But I just wanted to help.” Saldramon muttered pathetically. “Since you’re a human…” It added quietly, not reaching Tamas’s frustrated ears.

“Then go away before I die of shock at your stupidity.” Tamas said.

“Okay...” Saldramon whined, and bowed its head sadly as it crept away.

OOOOO

The sky had turned dark without Tamas noticing, and he found himself walking though a pseudo-forest of thin stone pillars, moving towards the one light he could see ahead. When he reached it, any hope of civilization vanished as he found a blue humanoid and something vaguely fish-like sitting by a wood fire. The humanoid was dressed in yellow-brown clothes that reminded Tamas of human work fatigues, but they were obviously alien in their design, with the telltale double circle of the Tau imprinted onto it.

“Oh, it’s a human.” The Tau said as she lifted her head to face towards Tamas, who had stepped into the clearing without realizing what awaited him.  “Did you get stuck here too?”

“Not more xenos.” Tamas murmured hiding his face in his hands. The humanoid instantly looked downcast.

“Oh. Your imperial, aren’t you?” She asked glumly.

“Of Course!” Tamas shouted.

“He’s pretty rude.” The fish-thing said. The tau patted it on the head, evidently trying to calm it down.

“Be nice yourself, Piramon. It’s not his fault he’s like that.” She said. Tamas lifted his head from his hands as he realized something far more bothersome than xenos.

“Wait, where did you get the wood for that fire?” Tamas said, pointing at it.

“Oh, this has been here for a while.” The tau answered.

“Even before I hatched.” The fish-thing she had called Piramon added.

“And what’s a fish doing here? Never mind that, you probably brought it here.” Tamas said, pointing at the tau. “And why are you on my planet?”

“Planet?” Piramon butted in. “Stupid human, this is the digital plane. She’s got as much reason to be here as you do.” Tamas stared at it blankly, just beginning to comprehend that it was a talking fish, only structured like a seal, instead of a simple bullet of flesh.

“What?” He said blankly. The tau nodded in response.

“It’s true.” She said. “I woke up here after falling asleep for the day, and I assure you, this is not the planet I was on.”

“Why should I listen to you?” Tamas asked. The tau’s smile shrank only slightly.

“Look, I know our empires don’t get along, but this is a dangerous place and its better if us kids work together.” The tau held out her hand. “My name is Fio’La’Dahrt’Kais’Mesme, what’s yours?” Tamas glared at her.

“No.” He said, before turning around and stalking off into the forest of stone.

“Don’t bother yourself, he’s just an idiot.” Piramon said, giving Mesme a friendly pat on the foot. Tamas continued on well after he had left the stone forest behind him, only stopping when his exhaustion proved overwhelming and he fell asleep between the two most comfortable rocks he could find.

OOOOO

“Well, look what we have here, Reavmon.”

The voice woke Tamas and made him blink his eyes as he still found himself in the barren brown wasteland. Two figures were looking down on him from a small hill. One was a black canine as tall and as humanoid as the lizard had been, but with a serpentine litheness and a metal helmet that covered the top of its head. Its companion looked like a pale human boy about Tamas’s age, dressed in dark grey pants and a long sleeved shirt, with a black scarf wrapped around his neck flowing like a cape quite far behind him, lifted by the gentle breezes of the stone wasteland.

“A pathetic human napping in the middle of no where.” The pale-faced boy brushed back his long black hair from around his head, revealing his pointed ears. The pale-faced alien opened his lips in a predatory smile. Pure terror flooded through Tamas.

“Wra-Wra-“ Tamas stuttered. Old bedtime stories came back to his mind of the terrible creatures that just barely didn’t look like men and moved like wind and shadows as they preyed on unwary children.

“Is that what your mommy called us? Isn’t one name bad enough from you mon-keigh?” The alien continued in his shrill and haughty voice, turning his back to Tamas. “I can’t stand anymore of this. Reavmon, you say the rest.” The canine glanced at the alien, before nodding and turning back to face Tamas.

“This is Lord Jalith of the Dark Eldar, the deadliest being alive, and supreme emperor of the digital plane.” It said, its voice a low and wet growl. “And I am Reavmon, his loyal retainer, who he deigns to let have this kill only because… because…” Reavmon surreptitiously glanced at the eldar he had called Jalith. Jalith hissed something unintelligible and Reavmon turned his focus back to Tamas, only to find the human trying to run away.

Tamas had barely run ten yards when Reavmon rammed into him from behind and knocked him flat, goggles tearing into Tamas’s forehead as he fell on his face and twisted to the side.

“Please, just make it quick.” He whispered, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Quick? Ha!” Jalith laughed, coming up behind Reavmon. “Where’s the fun in that?” In his desperation, Tamas found himself praying, something he had never been fond of.

_Dear God-Emperor, it can’t end like this. I can’t just die here. What can I do?_ Tamas thought, his eyes scrunched tight. And against all hopes, the Emperor answered him. Strangely, His voice was high-pitched and gravelly; astoundingly similar to the green lizard Tamas had met on the first day in this accursed place.

“For the Emperor!” The voice was calling, which was strange because… Tamas eyes snapped open as he heard a very real impact just above him, and Reavmon hissing in rage and pain. Tamas turned around to see the green lizard pinning Reavmon down with its claws. Jalith had backed away, tightly clutching a dagger sheathed at his side as he stared in fear at the lizard whose bulging musculature easily overpowered the canine’s thin frame.

“Saldramon?” Tamas exclaimed, uncertain of what he was seeing.

“I am the servant of humanity.” Saldramon grunted out, still struggling with the violently writhing Reavmon. “I am its guardian and warrior.” In that moment of distraction Reavmon found an opening, kicking out and sending Saldramon stumbling back in pain, and giving Reavmon time to flip back onto its feet and retreat to its master’s side.

“Yeah! Your no match for me.” Jalith shouted, his face trying to regain his bluster. “Just give up and I might go easy on you.” Saldramon backed up towards Tamas.

“What do we do?” The lizard asked, risking a glance back at Tamas.

_Why is it asking me?_ Tamas thought. _What use am I here? This is his thing._ Tamas looked closer, trying to understand Saldramon’s position. _Is he… scared?_ Tamas shook his head, and replaced his fear with anger at all the chaos surrounding him.

“Who do you think I am?” Tamas yelled out, making Jalith stumble back in shock. “Do you think a kid like you and his pet dog scares us? We refuse to give up, and we refuse to die!” Tamas screamed as the insanity called courage filled him, thrusting his fist into the air in his forced fervor. Holy light shown above his head, and Tamas snatched the machine with his outstretched arm without even thinking. “Are you ready Saldramon?” He asked one hand pulling back and the other pointing forward.

“Ready!” Saldramon replied, bracing himself and readying for the fight.

“How dare you! Kill them, Reavmon, kill them all.” Jalith screeched. The canine bent forward and charged, moving at blinding speeds as it closed in to attack.

“Saldramon, feel my spirit!” Tamas yelled.

Saldramon opened his mouth and, the moment before the canine hit, coated Reavmon in fire.


	2. Mesme the Fio'La

Tamas tossed the hexagonal machine into the air and caught it again in his hand. Its body was white and elongated, giving the central screen a pair of “wings” on its sides while the data screen itself was ringed by a red circle. Tamas glanced at it, before breaking into a rapid series of flailing arm gestures that eventually made Tamas stumble and lose his balance.

Saldramon watched him with curiosity, confused by Tamas’s actions. As soon as Tamas regained balance he made a show of brushing of his coat and faked a cough, changing the subject.

“So, you call this place the ‘digital plane’, right? Why is that?” Tamas asked, gesturing at the surrounding plain of brown stone. Saldramon shrugged.

“It just is.” He said as a non-answer. “What else could it be?” Tamas gave a shrug of his own.

“Dynapolye, my home planet.” The human said. “At least I wish it was.” Tamas said, glancing around. He still hadn’t seen the local sun, but just from how cool the air was and how spectacularly blue the sky was he had begun to admit to himself that he couldn’t possibly still be on his home world.

“What’s a planet?” Saldramon asked. Tamas smacked himself on the forehead as he was reminded of how stupendously stupid his companion was. Right before he could decide not to explain, someone else joined in the conversation.

“Hey, uh… human guy!” Tamas and Saldramon turned to see Mesme, the tau Tamas had met the day before, running towards them with Piramon perched on her head.

“Argh, what do you want?” Tamas asked, already having enough on his hands with one friendly alien (though one that claimed not to be an alien).

“I saw some kind of giant flame go up over here. Did you see what happened?” Mesme asked.

“Flames?” Tamas said proudly. “Ha, that was just me and Saldramon here teaching some dark eldar brat a lesson.” Mesme shivered when she heard Tamas’s boast.

“Dark eldar?” She asked, frightened by the mere mention of the name. Meanwhile, Piramon had jumped off her head and now was deep in conversation with Saldramon, leaving the human and the tau to their own discussion.

“Forget about it.” Tamas said. “We sent him running after Saldramon fried his dog.”

“He was a tamer!” Piramon yelled out, causing Tamas and Mesme to look at him.

“A what?” Tamas asked.

“Saldramon said the black guy was tamer.” Piramon said, bouncing on its fins in panic.

“Okay,” Tamas said, not amused by Piramon’s answer. “First I never said he was black. He just wore a lot of black. Second, what do you mean he was a ‘tamer’?”

“Aren’t you a tamer?” Piramon asked. “Saldramon’s your partner, right?”

“Yeah.” Saldramon nodded in agreement, far too eagerly for someone who had only got onto Tamas’s good side a few hours ago. “He even got his D-Spex during the fight with Reavmon.” Tamas looked down at the machine in his hand, while Mesme noticed it for the first time since she had arrived, and began to calm down from her initial fright.

“Oh, yours is red?” She asked. “I guess it makes sense. Mine is yellow.” Mesme reached into one of the numerous pockets on her pants and pulled out a machine nearly identical to Tamas’s save for the yellow ring around the screen.  Tamas took a few seconds to look at Mesme’s so called ‘D-Spex’ before looking in confusion at Saldramon.

“You know what this is and you never told me?”

“You never asked.” Saldramon replied innocently. “Why? Do you not know?”

“No.” Tamas said belligerently. “This doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen before.”

“But-“ Saldramon began to protest, but Mesme cut him off.

“It’s okay, I had to have it explained to me too.” She said, beginning to reach for a pat on the shoulder, but deciding against it. “The D-Spex is what make marks you as a tamer, and makes Saldramon more than just a friend.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call him a friend.” Tamas muttered.

“The D-Spex lets you command him so he can fight better.” Mesme continued, missing Tamas’s aside. “And it also can do some other stuff, like tell the local time and identify other digital beings.”

“Digital beings?” Tamas asked, eyeing Saldramon and Piramon. “Is that what these guys are called?”

“Yeah, like how you two are both meat bags.” Piramon replied.

OOOOO

As Tamas continued to be instructed, none of them were aware they were being watched. The creature could understand what they were saying, but was far from caring about the workings of the world it was already in. All it saw was four beings just waiting to be devoured. Only the green one looked like anything close to a threat, but that was only if he could touch the creature, and that was far from possible. Slowly, crouched low to the ground and staying behind the stones and hills that dotted the landscape, the creature approached.

OOOOO

“So how do you operate this thing? I don’t see any buttons on this.” Tamas asked.

“Just spend some time, messing around with it, that’s what I did. I’m still not sure exactly how I did it.” Mesme answered.

“Well that’s not much help.” Tamas said as began poking various spots on his D-spex, eventually falling into a natural handhold. He was quite surprised when the machine finally acknowledged his silent request and lit up, projecting a blue circle above it. Three blinking red dots and a yellow dot were spread out around the holographic field. “Woah, is this the radar you talked about?” Tamas asked.

“Yeah.” Mesme answered. “You, that is your D-Spex, are the white dot in the center, and I’m the yellow dot. Those red dots are our partners.”

“There’s three of them.” Tamas said, focusing intently on the screen as he processed the thought, quickly realizing what it meant.

“He’s back!” Tamas yelled, turning around to face the direction the radar had indicated. “We’ve got to get out of here.” The creature struck him first. He was down before anyone had seen it, but it paused long enough as it pinned him down.

Instead of the black canine Tamas had been expecting, it was a scarlet cat-like thing with warped and deranged features, a pair of tendrils sprouting from its back. Saldramon moved to attack the diminutive creature, but ended up clawing at an afterimage as the feline moved out of his grasp and disappeared from view.

“What was that?” Mesme, catching her breathe out of shock at the creature’s sudden attack. Meanwhile, Tamas was already ramming his thumb onto his D-Spex, and the response was immediate.

‘Khymramon’ The projection read. ‘Half-Real Cat being’

“That’s useless!” Tamas yelled, thumbing the machine harder. “I could see it was a cat.”

“Tamas, what should we do?” Saldramon begged, tugging on his tamer’s shoulder to pull him up. “It’s too fast for me.”

“I don’t know.” Tamas said, shaking his D-Spex. “This stupid thing isn’t saying anything useful.

“Tamas, watch out.” Mesme called out, causing both Tamas and Saldramon to turn to face her, too slow to understand her warning. The Khymramon struck Saldramon from behind, knocking him down and leaving blurry wounds on his back.

“Saldramon.” Tamas yelled, heart pounding as he saw the Khymramon race out of site again. Tamas knelt at the side of the green reptile, shaking its shoulder only to receive a groan of pain in response. He looked up at Mesme, desperation and fear written on his face. “We need to get out of here.” He said.

“I don’t think we can escape it.” She said, her near permanent smile gone.

“Saldramon’s hurt.” Tamas said, meaning far more than just those words. The wound looked serious, as if the stripes on the green lizard’s back were literally going to fade out of existence. Tamas needed to help Saldramon. If there was a fight both of them would be worthless. It was up to Mesme and Piramon.

“What do you expect me to do?” Mesme asked. “I’m a circuit builder, I can’t fight.”

“What about me?” Piramon asked. “That’s why I’m here after all.” Mesme looked down at her partner, wondering whether something so small could really challenge the ferocious predator.

“We can’t just sit here and die.” Tamas said, gritting his teeth. “Even if you don’t want to fight, you still need to protect yourself.” Mesme paused.

“I’ll need your help.” Piramon said. “We’ll need brains to beat it, not just brawn.” The tau finally nodded

“Alright.” She said. “Tell me what to do.” Piramon flipped around and braced itself.

“That’s the spirit.” The fish said. “Tell me where it’s attacking from and I’ll do the rest.” Mesme followed her muscle memory as she tapped on her D-Spex to bring up the radar. She saw the enemy’s dot circle around them, hanging out of sight. The dot paused for the briefest of seconds, and Mesme cried out.

“Behind you!” Piramon spun around and spat, releasing a cloud of glowing, watery bubbles.

The Khyramon dodged the first bubble, and a second and a third, but its agility was overtaxed by the shear amount it had dove into. The scarlet cat dodged one only to plunge headfirst into a second, waving its limbs wildly as it tried to escape the entrapping water. Piramon charged forward and finished the fight with a slash of his head fin, sending the beast tumbling to the ground.

Howling in pain as a blurry wound appeared on its side, the Khyramon ran off into the wastelands, Mesme following on her radar until the feline was well out of range.

“Alright, you did it.” Mesme cried out, her smile reappearing on her face.

“I’d have been useless without you.” Piramon pointed out.

“All-“ Mesme began to say, but she was quickly cut off.

“You were great!  All I do in a fight is yell and flail my arms.” Tamas said. Saldramon began to push itself up from the ground, and Tamas turned his attention back to his partner. “Hey, are you all right?”

“I was made to be tough.” Saldramon replied, standing up and brushing himself off. “It’ll take more than a scratch to worry me.” Tamas chuckled dryly, relieved that the attack was over.

“So what do we-“ Tamas did a double take as he turned to address Mesme, before bursting out into an honest fit of laughter.

“What?” Mesme asked, wondering what he found so funny.

“Man, I was so scared by that monster I forgot you were an alien.” Tamas said.

“So?” Mesme asked, not sure what the imperial human would do next.

“Eh, it’s nothing.” Tamas said. “Your nothing like what my teachers ranted about, and you did save our lives, so I guess I kinda’ owe you one.”

“I was helping myself too. You don’t need to-“ Mesme began.

“Are you crazy?” Piramon said. “We’ll be safer if we stick with him. Saldramon would have flattened that cat if it hadn’t gotten the drop on him.”

“Well, allies then?” Tamas said, spitting on his left hand and holding it out. Mesme looked at it in confusion. “Uh, I guess tau don’t shake hands, huh?” Tamas said, noticing Mesme’s expression.

“Yeah…” Mesme replied.

“Well, as long as we can understand each other.” Tamas said, wiping his hand off on his pant leg. The group of four began to walk, Piramon perched on Mesme’s head and Saldramon following close by Tamas’s side.

“By the way, what do you want me to call you?” Tamas asked. “The name you gave was kind of long. Does Fio’La work?”

“That’s a bit formal.” The worker of the Earth caste replied. “You can just call me Mesme.”

“Well, hi Mesme, I guess. I’m Tamas.”

OOOOO

The Khymramon hissed as it struggled to crest the hill. Thinking it was safe the feline collapsed on the ground. It would need time to rest and easy prey to regain its strength. Maybe there was an egg…

The Khyramon’s train of thought was cut off by a sharp set of claws in the back of its neck.

“Why quickly?” Reavmon asked out loud as he watched the feline dissolve into tiny shards of color and light.

“Didn’t you hear me the first time? You digital beings are worthless to me.” Jalith said, walking up from behind while fiddling impatiently with his dagger. “Just hurry up and absorb his data.”

“Not data, just power.” Reavmon mumbled as he began to inhale the shards of light.

“Shut up and do it.” Jalith hissed. “I don’t care if it’ll reform after this. You let yourself be beaten by that mon-keigh’s mongrel, and you’re lucky I kept you.”

“Of course master.” Reavmon said, turning and bowing, leaving the shards of color to sink into the ground.

“Once you evolve, I’m going to teach that human a lesson that he’ll never forget.” Jalith declared, sheathing the dagger in one smooth motion and bursting into maniacal laughter.


	3. Sediba the Cryptek

The boy was sitting cross-legged on the ground, tapping his green orb against the various rocks on the ground, before bringing the orb back up so he could look at its surface. 

That wasn’t enough to make Jalith curious. Neither was the thin, green body. No, what was curious was that the scantily clad boy was quite precisely tapping a different rock every time.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Jalith asked, walking up to the boy. The boy didn’t answer, and Jalith desperately wanted to pull him up by the hair. Unfortunately for the dark eldar, the skeletal boy didn’t have any hair, nor any clothes other than the short white skirt quite firmly planted on the ground. “Hey, I’m talking too you.”

The green boy stood up quite leisurely, and hung the orb in a leather loop on his side.

“A query.” The boy said. “Is it odd that every naturally occurring object here contains electrical data patterns that can be used to generate a model of the object itself?” Jalith glared at him.

“We’re on the ‘digital plane’, home of the ‘digital beings’. Of course everything is made of data.”

“Just because something says it is immortal does not mean it is immortal, and seeing that a ship flies teaches a ship builder nothing. How would you theorize a visually realized ‘digital’ world would come into existence?”

“Not important. I just want to know how I got here.”

“Which, if you transferred from a purely biological state, would be unusual. In my case however, there is ample precedent of transfer of mind into machinery, and a second transfer is not of particular note.”

“Oh, you already had your mind transferred once? I hear its not safe for juveniles.”

“Neither I nor my father were involved with the decision, and neither I nor my father have enjoyed the experience. At the very least, I was able to spend the majority of the time in the cryo-tomb.”

“Tomb? That’s a weird name-“ Jalith paused as his mind added the pieces together. Mind transfer to machine in addition to unwilling transformation in addition to green orb technology in addition to unusual and casual use of the word ‘tomb’.

“Necrontyr!” Jalith shrieked as loudly as possible as he ran back. “Reavmon where are you, its an emergency!”

“Necrontyr? I? That is a very illogical conclusion given the period of conversation.”

“Reavmon!” The canine darted in between his master and the green boy, before taking a moment to glance back at Jalith.

“What is it?”

“Necrontyr!” Jalith continued to scream, pointing at the boy. What might have been tears came from the corners of his eyes. Reavmon looked at the accused boy and back at Jalith.

“Do you want me to deal with him?” Reavmon asked.

“Do I look stupid? I need you to get me out of here.”

“He doesn’t look very dangerous.”

“Are you crazy? Stop talking and get me out of here.”

“If you say so.” Reavmon said trotting over to Jalith and leaning down. The dark eldar quickly mounted himself on the canine’s back and kicked his heels in.

“Now. Quickly.” Reavmon grunted as he began walking away from the green boy, muttering venomously under his breath. As they walked away, a silvery scarab climbed up on top of a rock next to the boy.

“I say, Sediba, are all you organics so rash.” The beetle said.

“I am not being rash.” The boy replied. “I am being thorough. You’re claims are nowhere near any established knowledge.”

“But why would I lie? That’s quite rude, you know.”

“I never said you were purposefully giving untrue information.”

“But then what- Oh. That is very insulting.”

OOOOO

Tamas gave a rock a hard kick as his underlying frustration peaked in that particular moment.

“Man, another day and we still haven’t seen anything.” He mumbled.

“At least that means we haven’t been attacked again.” Mesme pointed out.

“Yeah, but there’s nothing to do.” Tamas said. “It’s nice to get away from work for a day or too, but I can’t stay here forever…”

“Well we could talk about our cultures.” She said.

“No, if we do that your second mouth will start spewing lies to deceive me from the path of the Emperor and I’ll have to fight you.”

“My- I’ll- That sentence does not work.” Mesme said, laughing it off.

“Hey, I’m serious. If that thing on your forehead isn’t a mouth then what is it?” Tamas asked. Mesme rubbed the Y-shaped slit on her head and shrugged.

“I don’t know. Do you know what every part of your body does.”

“Yeah.” Tamas said defensively.  “…I think.”

“Well, it’s not a mouth, I’ll say that for sure.”

“Really? My instructor sounded pretty certain… Then again, he also said you were all seven foot tall and had glowing red eyes.” They both laughed at the ridiculous statement, up until Piramon called out.

“Hey you two, stop chatting and look in front of you.” Everyone looked up from the conversation, and when they focused they could see the beginning of something black in the distance.

“Eh, its probably just more rocks.” Tamas said.

“But rocks aren’t so straight.” Saldramon pointed out.

“I guess you’re right. It’s better than nothing, so why not head for it?”

OOOOO

Jalith stopped to lean on a rock, forced to run on his own feet after Reavmon’s strength had quite predictably given out. He was catching his breath as Reavmon tried to straighten out and correct his back.

“Why did we run?” Reavmon asked as he heard a satisfying crack in his spine.

“That was a necrontyr, I’m sure of it.” Jalith replied.

“And?”

“Do I really- Look, they’re _old_ , all right. Old and dangerous enough to fight the gods. They’re immortal and smarter than anything else in the galaxy.”

“I thought you said-“

“I mean book smarts. They can make stuff even we couldn’t imagine.”

“You say that as if we didn’t have tacticians.” Sediba said.

“Aw nuts.” Jalith said, turning around to face the green boy. “How’d you catch up with us.”

“Well, your partner wasn’t able to go very fast, what with you riding on his back and all.” The silver beetle added, climbing up from Sediba’s back to perch on his shoulder and address the other pair.

“Man, what do you want, necrontyr?” Jalith asked.

“I am simply trying to ascertain my exact situation, and believe my analysis would be improved with the input of any other organics I meet.”

“Other? Your-“

“I was originally organic, unlike these ‘digital beings’ we both have encountered.”

“Well… Is that your real body then?” Jalith asked. He had been told that every last necrontyr was converted into metal bodies.

“Of course not. This is merely my memory of my body. It is far from an exact replica.” Sediba looked down at his chest. “In truth, I don’t know if this is really anything like my old body.”

“Really? Man, you guys must have bad memories.” Jalith said. Reavmon carefully noted how quickly Jalith had begun changing tone.

“I was in the cryo-tomb for many millennia, I’m lucky to not have gone insane like many of my fellows.”

“I never said it was your fault for not being built to live so long.” Jalith replied. Sediba replied with an odd hiss, but before there could be another response, a roar came out in the distance, and in an instant they changed from conversation to battle. Sediba backed away, the beetle placing himself in front, while Jalith and Reavmon stood their ground waiting for the attacker. An armored boar, many times larger than Jalith and Reavmon, arrived bellowing in rage as streams of colored shards drifted off its back.

“Is that all? Take care of him, Reavmon.” Jalith said. The canine nodded and charged forward, swiping his claws at the boar’s head, only to glance of its armor with a discordant shriek of metal on metal. “What are you doing? Aim for the vitals, an eye or something.” Reavmon ducked down and slid, aiming for the boar’s underbelly, but the beast was too quick, swinging its bulk to bash the canine out of the way. Reavmon bounced of the ground, only protected by the metal mask on his head.

Jalith turned to glance at the necrontyr, surprised to see him manipulating his green orb.

“How long will it be stunned for?” The silver beetle asked.

“Total paralysis for half a second, one second to fully recover faculties, five seconds to recover momentum.” Sediba said quickly, glancing quickly from the orb to the fight.

“It will have to do. Out of the way.” Scarabmon called out. Jalith leapt aside as green lighting danced on the beetle’s back. With a gesture of its forearms, the beetle compressed the lighting into a ball and hurled it at the raging boar. The ball hit on the side, and lighting wracked the boar’s body. Jalith realized what had happened and refused to leave an advantage untaken.

“Finish him.” He called out. Reavmon leapt to his feet and charged, muscles tensing in both arms. As the boar regained its senses it reared up and bellowed again, giving Reavmon the perfect chance to plunge both claws into the boars exposed underside. The boar shattered into shards of color and light, and Reavmon began inhaling the light without waiting for his master’s command.

“Well, looks like you can be handy in a fight.” Jalith said, turning to face the necrontyr. “You’ll need me to do the real fighting, but you can certainly help.”

“I didn’t have time to check, but due to the beings size, I believe it may have been at least one order higher than either of our… partners.” Sediba responded, eliciting a disinterested frown from Jalith. “If not for it having sustained the injuries that provoked it into coming here, I doubt any of us could have defeated it.”

“Hah, don’t underestimate me, necron. I _let_ Reavmon fight because I don’t want to waste my energy on such pathetic opponents. But…” He said, trotting over and clumsily putting an arm on Sediba’s shoulder. “Stick with me and I’m sure we will both find ourselves quite well off. By the way, what are you guy’s names?”

“I am Sediba the Cryptek.”

“And I am Scarabmon.” The silver beetle added, hopping onto Sediba’s back.

“Well.” Jalith said. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

OOOOO

Two figures were watching from afar. One was a silver haired girl surprisingly similar to Jalith, but dressed in flowing blue robes. Beside her sat a figure that appeared to have been hewn from rock or bone. Its face was the same as its bulbous torso, marked by a strange double-loop rune in the place of eyes, and it crouched down to stay level with the girl.

“He helped the necron.” The girl said. “Even one like him should know the danger.”

“It is doubtless he knows.” The stone figure said. “And the necron will fight his enemies just like we used the cyboarmon to fight ours.”

“It was champion level-“

“I could injure it. Strength is nothing without knowledge.”

“We must deal with them ourselves.”

“He is kindred with you, Rhiantha, even if he is one of the forsaken.”

“And if he is with the necron, Spirimon, he is my enemy.”


	4. Rhia the Bonesinger

“Man, I don’t think we’ve gotten any closer.” Tamas said, looking out towards the distant black shape from where he had been sleeping, looking forward to another day of walking with nothing but xenos as company.

“Way to say the obvious.” Piramon said, adjusting his perch on Mesme’s head. “Quit whining and keep walking, talking’s not going to get us there.”

“But we don’t know what there is.” Saldramon pointed out. “Waiting longer might help us out.”

“I thought we agreed something was better than nothing.” Mesme said. “It could just as easily be a way home.” Tamas finally started standing up, but he failed to stop his grumblings.

“Do you Tau ever stop smiling?” He asked. Looking away from the group, he was the first to notice the longhaired girl walking across their range of vision. “Hey, another human!” Tamas started sprinting to catch up with her, leaving the rest of the group quite stressed trying to keep up with him. The girl didn’t give Tamas any notice as he came closer, so he moved to tap her on the shoulder as he started to introduce himself. “Hey, my name’s Tamas, what’s-“ An inch away from her shoulder Tamas’s hand was caught by the girl’s faster than he could see, without her even flinching her body.

“Don’t touch me, Mon-Keigh.” She said coldly. Tamas felt his hand being crushed by far more strength than a girl her size should possess, and his mind began to take in all the little details he should have noticed beforehand, like her ornate and alien blue robes, her unnaturally silver hair, and most tellingly the pointed ears emerging from her hair.

“Aw nuts, not another one.” He said.

“You’ve already met the dark eldar and lived. Strange.”

“Will you let go?” Tamas asked, but the girl only tightened her grip, eliciting a cry of pain. “He ran off when Saldramon beat his partner, okay?” The girl seemed to frown and began to tighten her grip again, but in that same moment Saldramon came charging in. The girl didn’t need to have paused, because in that same moment her stone-like partner arrived, barreling into the green reptile and throwing it to the ground. Tamas watched Saldramon go down, and had to have his attention refocused by more pressure to his hand.

“Why?” The girl asked.

“I don’t know.” Tamas answered. The girl let go, and Tamas went sprawling to the ground.

“What should we do with them, Rhiantha?” The stone being asked, keeping one foot pressed down on Saldramon.

“Leave these fools be, Spirimon, they’re no threat to us.” Rhia replied.

“Hey, we’re all on the same side here, right?” Mesme said as she and Piramon caught up. Rhia frowned and turned to look at Mesme. “You’re working against the dark eldar too, aren’t you?”

“The fallen one is nothing but an interloper. My concern is with the necrontyr he has sided with.” Rhia replied. “And even if we had a common enemy, it would make me no ally of degenerates like you.”

“Are you really going to take them on your own? You’ll be outnumbered.”

“Numbers mean little compared to strategy. Stay out of our way or we will have to deal with you as well.” Rhia walked away, seeming to float as her robes swayed above the ground. “I’ve wasted enough time on you. Come, Spirimon.”

“Yes, Rhiantha.” Spirimon said, following Rhia. It wasn’t until the pair was well out of sight that Tamas spoke up.

“Man, how many xenos are there out here?” He said.

“What’s a necrontyr?” Mesme asked, unconcerned with Tamas’s complaints.

“I think she meant necron, but those are just a myth.”

“Necrons?”

“Yeah, metal shells inhabited by the minds of an ancient civilization tricked into a terrible pact by malevolent star-eaters.” Tamas explained. “Don’t worry, my teacher assured me they’re not real.” Mesme looked quite amused by his reply. “What?”

“Nothing.” She answered. “So, aren’t we going to go-“

“No way.” Tamas answered. “I am not getting between that girl and the dark eldar. That has bad news written all over it.”

“Yeah, if she wants to get beaten up that’s fine by me.” Piramon said.

“And we’ll never reach the black object if we keep getting distracted.” Saldramon added, still rubbing his head in pain.

“Alright.” Mesme said, shrugging her shoulders. “I guess we’ll leave her alone to take on the dark eldar and the necron by herself.” She glanced at everyone else, one at a time, but when they failed to respond, she sighed and followed along as they renewed their trek towards the distant black spire.

OOOOO

“We could have made use of them.” Spirimon said, staying behind Rhia as they followed the trail of the necrontyr.

“Smiling fools like that would just get in our way.” Rhia replied.

“Perhaps. But to always think the worst is the path to despair.”

“We can handle them.”

“Just because we can do it alone doesn’t mean we have to.”

“This is eldar business, mon-keigh have no place in it.”

“They do. Humans and tau are part of this galaxy just as much as we are, and the ancient enemy is as often their foe as it is ours.” Before Spirimon had even finished, Rhia was already stamping her foot on the ground, crushing the stone beneath it.

“I am your tamer, Spirimon, and my word is final.” She said. “We will defeat the necrontyr with our own strength, and leave those mon-keigh alone.” Her order was first met by silence, but Spirimon finally responded after he felt he had waited long enough.

“As you say, Rhiantha.”

They continued on in silence, Rhia occasionally checking her blue-rimmed D-spex. They were closing in steadily, but at the same time she was worried the dark eldar might already know she was tracking them. Certainly the head start the two had managed to get in the morning, even though she didn’t need to rest like they did, was suspicious. As it was, there was little chance they could ambush her as long as she was tracking them with her D-spex, but at the same time if they were paying attention to their own D-spexes they would notice her. But if they had they would most likely have turned to confront her by now, so she felt some small condolence.

“Come on, if someone was tracking us they would have attacked by now.” Jalith’s shrill voice drifted into Rhia’s ear from the wind, telling her she was close.

“Prepare yourself.” She told Spirimon.

“I am ready. Are you?” He replied.

“I am always ready.”

“Then let us finish this.” The pair quickened their pace, and as they crested a hill, they saw their prey: the necrontyr who wore a living body, and with him the dark eldar and both mortal’s partners.

“What?” Jalith exclaimed when he saw Rhia. “How’d you sneak up on me?”

“You’re neither observant nor wise.” Rhia replied. “Now move away from our ancient enemy so I may deal with him.” Jalith smirked in response.

“Why should I listen to a little girl like you? Me and Sediba make a great team.”

“Don’t underestimate one of those who sided with the devourers of stars.”

“I’m sorry, but that decision really had nothing to do with me.” Sediba said sounding quite perturbed.

“Don’t bother.” Jalith said. “Craftworlders are nothing but a bunch of self-righteous spoil-sports. You’re wasting time trying to reason with one.”

“As I have wasted time trying to reason with one of the fallen.” Rhia said. “Deal with them, Spirimon.”

“Yes.” Spirimon answered, nodding once with his body before charging forward. Scarabmon’s first reaction was to launch an orb of green lighting, but Spirimon took it face first without even flinching. Before he could reach the beetle Reavmon dashed in from the side, swiping with his claw. Spirimon caught the arm and twisted around, flinging the canine into a nearby rock while not losing his momentum towards Scarabmon and Sediba.

“Run!” Scarabmon yelled as he charged another attack. His voice was enough to shake Sediba from his shock at the sudden assault, but the necron had only gone a few steps before Spirimon’s fist connected with the beetle’s face, sending him flying back and knocking Sediba down in the process.

Spirimon marched over to where the two lay on the ground and lifted his foot for a finishing stomp, but Reavmon dived for him again and knocked the stone-like being over, sending both rolling across the ground. The moment they stopped, Spirimon thrust forward, throwing the canine off him.

“Keep your eyes on the enemy, fool.” Jalith yelled as he came up from behind Rhia, knife ready to strike. Without saying a word she turned and caught Jalith’s hand midway, using the rest of the momentum to easily fling him far off to the side. Her attention returned to the main fray, where Spirimon held Reavmon by the throat.

“Good work, Spirimon.” Rhia said. “I’ll deal with the necron.” She began walking over, her steps so light that she might have been floating, but just as she reached where Sediba and Scarabmon lay on the ground, she was interrupted by harsh coughing from behind her.

“No.” Jalith stood up, still sounding as if he was hacking up his lungs. One hand grabbed at his chest, while the other merely clenched itself in fury. “No one can do that…” Eldritch light filled his palm, but he didn’t notice, his eyes focused on his enemies. “To my tools!” Jalith clasped a black-rimmed D-spex tight.

“Finally.” Reavmon hissed as his claws dug into Spirimon’s arm and the hand opened in pain. Reavmon sprang back as the Spirimon drew back for a punch, but it was far too slow. Feeling his tamer’s rage inside of him, Reavmon howled and unleashed a funnel of freezing power that engulfed his opponent. Reavmon snapped his mouth shut and the funnel disappeared, revealing that Spirimon was encased by ice. Without looking he dashed to the side and knocked Rhia flat, stabbing his claws into the ground next to her head to keep her pinned.

Rhia looked up as Jalith walked over, as calm as if he had always held the advantage. As he squatted down to look her in the face, the ice encasing Spirimon shattered, and the digital being fell to his knees in pain.

“I’m thinking your partner was lucky to stay intact after that.” Jalith said. Rhia’s only reply was to stare at him in anger. “Now, it’s lucky for you that you’re eldar, because- oh, cute look. Sure you’re from the craftworlds and I’m from Commorragh, but we’re still kindred beings, and there’s not enough of us in the galaxy, so far be it from me to make things worse. So run. Run now, before I change my mind.”

Jalith licked the blade of his knife to punctuate his demand, and motioned for Reavmon to get off of her. The canine obeyed, and Jalith watched as the girl got to her feet, not looking as strong anymore. Spirimon gave all he had to support her and the pair walked away, hoping against all they knew that Jalith wouldn’t break his word.

“I don’t think it was wise…” Sediba said as he got to his feet.

“It’s not about logic.” Jalith replied. “It’s about fear.” He breathed in deeply, as if he smelled something sweet, before spitting in disgust.

“What?” Scarabmon asked.

“Don’t bother with me, we’ve got better things to worry about.” Jalith replied.

“Like what?” Sediba asked.

“It’s time I gave that human payback for his humiliation.”


	5. Jalith the Trueborn

The sky had grown dark, once again without Tamas having seen any hint of a sun. Against any kind of physical reality, Saldramon had lit a pile of rocks to make a fire for the group to gather around before they went to sleep. Tamas was looking away from the fire and his unusual companions, making him the first one to see her.

“Ah man, it’s that eldar girl.” He said, seeing the robed shape walking into the light of the fire. It really was Rhia, held up by an equally weak looking Spirimon. Her robes were covered in dirt, and her face looked bruised, prompting Mesme’s concern.

“What happened?” The tau asked. Rhia replied, but kept her attention on Tamas.

“No wonder you could beat him.” She said bitterly. “He wasn’t a real tamer yet.”

“What do you mean? I saw his partner-“ Tamas began.

“His D-spex manifested during the battle.” Spirimon said. “His partner was clever enough of a strategist, but it wasn’t until the fallen one unlocked his connection that they were able to defeat us.”

“Next time you fight, there’s no way you can win.” Rhia said, hardening her glare.

“So then we shouldn’t fight him, right?” Saldramon asked, not understanding why Rhia was so angry.

“Of course you can’t understand-“

“Snap out of it.” Piramon said. “Sure you lost, but you’re still here aren’t you. No need to blame us if you got beat.” Rhia glared at him, ready to say something, right before Spirimon interrupted.

“She’s right, Rhia.” Her partner chastised. Rhia let out an angered sigh but didn’t resist as Spirimon lowered her to the ground. “We both need to rest, but I can still keep guard. If we are attacked though, I might not be strong enough to fight. Do you understand?” Tamas nodded tentatively, but still felt the need to clarify.

“So you’re with us now?” He asked.

“I am with whoever I need to be to protect Rhia.” Spirimon replied.

“Okay.”

The fire grew dim, and one by one the inhabitants of the camp went into slumber, or whatever kind of rest they were capable of. The fire was dead as Spirimon kept his vigilance over the children. When he heard Tamas begin to snore, he couldn’t help but comment.

“You know, nobody ever breathes like that on the digital plane.” Spirimon said, and the snoring stopped quite suddenly. “But then again, I haven’t listened to many human’s sleeping.” He waited awhile, before resuming his speech. “I suppose it is reasonable not to trust us, but you seem quite dedicated.” There was more silence, until Tamas finally decided to answer him.

“It’s not that.” He said, sitting up from the ground but keeping his voice soft.

“Really? How long have you been here?”

“A few days, maybe a week.”

“I see.” Spirimon, said nodding.

“What about you guys?”

“It’s not quite the same for eldar, but… Rhia has been here for one, maybe two decades. I’m not entirely certain of how the units translate.” Tamas paused as he thought about what it was like to have been in this wasteland for so long.

“And you still haven’t found a way back?”

“There won’t be any going back.” Spirimon said bluntly. Tamas gave him a questioning look, and the stone-like being began to explain. “Rhia coming here was nothing but a fluke. She was already… In her spiritstone when she came here.”

“Her what?”

“She was already finished with the physical world.” Spirimon said.

“Oh.” Tamas said, piecing things together himself.

“I don’t know how you got here, so there may still be a chance for you to return. But that’s only part of it, right?”

“Yeah…” Tamas mumbled, confused why he was still talking to what was either a xenos or a xenos machine.

“Is it that you don’t trust those you left behind?”

“What do you mean by that?” Tamas asked feeling a little insulted.

“Where ever you once were you are no longer there, and must concern yourself with the present.” Spirimon noticed as Tamas grimaced at the last words. “Now, do you trust us?” Spirimon spread his hand, indicating the four other beings that were spread around the camp, not one of whom was human.

“Well…” Tamas began, glancing around at each of them in turn.

“Tell the truth.”

“I don’t think Mesme could hurt anybody, all she does is smile. Piramon seems to just like making fun of people, but I know he can fight if he wants to. Rhia is…”

“Blunt?” Spirimon suggested.

“…Yeah, let’s go with that. And you’re... dangerous.” Tamas finally decided.

“I feel honored, but as I am right now I think you could beat me. What about your partner?” He asked. Tamas glanced looked at the contently sleeping Saldramon, who had curled around one of the previously lit stones.

“I don’t know.”

“Out of everyone here he is the one you need to trust.” Spirimon said. Tamas didn’t respond and just kept looking at Saldramon, trying to make up his mind. “If you’re not going to rest soon, it’s alright. You don’t need to sleep on the digital plane.”

“I don’t?”

“No, it’s one of the quirks of this plane compared to the physical one. So there’s no need to worry if you can’t rest.”

“No, it’s okay I think I’m starting to feel tired. Good… night, Spirimon.” Tamas said, leaning back and keeping his eyes wide open.

OOOOO

The next morning, Mesme was somewhat surprised to see the normally apathetic Tamas rousing them.

“Come on guys, If we try I think we’ll make it to that black spire today.” He said.

“Give me a few more seconds.” Piramon said groggily, rubbing her eyes with her fins.

“Well don’t take too long, I don’t want to spend another day just walking.”

“Why should that concern us?” Rhia said while standing in a way so gracious Tamas wasn’t sure he could describe it if asked.

“Because it might be a- important, thing… something important.”

“Like a way back home?” Mesme said not noticing Tamas’s hesitation. Rhia had however, and glared at her partner, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Hey, do any of you have something better to do?” Tamas pointed out. Before Rhia could respond, Tamas was quick to amend his question. “That _doesn’t_ involve fighting a certain psychopath, because none of could possibly win.” Rhia frowned severely but didn’t say anything more.

They walked as a group, always keeping their eyes on the black spire in the distance as it grew larger and larger. Piramon occasionally tried to start up word games with Saldramon, but they quickly gave up under the tense silence of the rest of the group. It was a good few hours, but the black spire finally came into sight.

The black tower of metal rose up far above the children’s heads, reminding Tamas of the vox towers back on Telris hive. The design was wrong though. It was just sheer metal all the way to the top, with some sort of observation tower halfway up, and a ladder leading up to it.

“Finally.” Tamas said. He broke into a run, eager to finally reach the mysterious tower.

“Hey, wait for me.” Saldramon said, stomping quickly to catch up.

“Tamas.“ Mesme said as she tried to go after him, but Rhia’s hand stopped her in her tracks.

“Stay here, I have an ill feeling about this.” Rhia said.

Meanwhile, Saldramon found himself struggling to get a proper foothold on the ladder with his giant claws.

“Tamas, I can’t get up.” He said.

“Well, I guess you’ll have stay down there then.” Tamas replied, glancing down from the ladder at Saldramon. “You can make sure no one tries to sneak up on me.” Tamas didn’t hear any reply from the reptile, so he shrugged and continued climbing the ladder until he reached the top.

From the platform Tamas could see far across the landscape, and wasn’t too surprised to see mostly brown stone. In the distance he could see what looked like more black towers like the one he was on. He took a second look at the brown stones.

“No way.” Tamas whispered.

OOOOO

Saldramon snorted in frustration, but didn’t say anything as he wrote in the dust on a tiny hill. He was the guardian of humanity and he would not complain about his tamers decision.

But he really wanted to go up the tower.

“Psst.” A voice said from the other side of the hill, where Saldramon couldn’t see.

“What?” Saldramon said, starting to lean over.

“No, don’t look at me yet. I’m supposed to be sneaking up on you.” The voice said. It was smooth and sharp at the same time, like a well-made blade, and didn’t sound like it had a care in the world. Saldramon was confused, but waited for the strangely familiar voice to continue. “Your tamer, the human; what’s he like?” Saldramon glanced up at the tower where Tamas was looking out across the landscape.

“He doesn’t talk to me much.” Saldramon said.

“Eh, better than what I got.” The voice replied. “Kid never stops running his mouth, and he speaks even more the more people there are.”

“Are you-“ Saldramon began to ask, but the voice cut him off.

“But that’s life as a partner, right? It doesn’t matter what you do, you’re just there to fight. Kid, I assure you what happens next isn’t personal, but be a sport and put up a good fight anyway, okay?”

“Okay.” Saldramon said stepping back into a defensive position.

OOOOO

Tamas’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard Saldramon yell a battle cry. He quickly twisted around to see Saldramon fighting Reavmon claw to claw. Tamas’s clenched his D-Spex tightly, and felt sweat began to bead up on his brow.

“Come on.” Tamas yelled out, leaning over the rail to get closer. “Just like last time.” Flames swelled up in Saldramon’s throat and he unleashed them in blaze like a flamer’s. In the same moment Reavmon unleashed a breath of frost and the two blasts collided, creating a cloud of steam where they collided. Saldramon stared in shock at the cloud of steam as he stopped his attack, only to be caught unaware as Reavmon dove through the steam and struck Saldramon in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

“No!” Tamas yelled.

“Yes.” A malignant voiced hissed. Tamas froze where he was, leaning on the platform’s rail, but in the corner of his eye he could see Jalith standing on the rail next to him. “You were so predictable.  Coming straight to the first thing that caught your fancy and not even trying to watch for an ambush, just like the stupid mon-keigh you are.” Tamas teeth clenched as he watched Saldramon knock Reavmon away with a lucky punch, only for Reavmon to strike him in the face three times.

“Your so stupid, did you know that? You haven’t even realized yet where we are, have you, because you know less about your own language than I do?” Jalith said.

“What are you talking about?” Tamas said, gritting his teeth and staring forward. “I know we’re on the Digital Plane-“

“Isn’t it obvious? Digital Plane, Digital Beings- or should I say…” As Saldramon tried feebly to protect against Reavmon’s blows with his arms, Jalith, stepped down to the floor of the platform and leaned his face close to the trembling Tamas.

“Machine Spirits.” Jalith whispered. Tamas’s eyes widened. “All this time we’ve just been in some sort of machine, or a representation of a machine, and you never realized. We fought using servants born from the machines our races built, I believe, and look: all those rocks and hills we walked among look like a mon-keigh cogitator panel, don’t they? But all that doesn’t matter now. I have some things to finish with you, and this time I won’t let any useless servants get in my way. I swear I will make you feel despair deeper than if I tore away your mother-“ Saldramon caught Reavmon’s claws an inch away from his face.

Tamas punched Jalith in the face. The dark eldar landed on the ground without a word, staring at Tamas in blank shock.

“Shut up.” Tamas yelled. “You’re the stupid one. You aren’t anything!”

“I-“ Jalith stuttered, trying to find words to say what he wanted to say. “I am Jalith, son of lord Skalinex, the greatest weapon maker in all of Commorragh, how could you hit me?”

“I don’t care what you are.” Tamas, swinging his fist aside. “If you’re so good, why don’t you take me on now?”

“Oh, I will.” Jalith hissed stumbling up before charging at Tamas with his fists outstretched.

On the ground far below, Saldramon and Reavmon looked up from their life and death struggle to see their tamers wildly swinging at each other with no care whether they hit or were hit.

“Are they allowed to do that?” Saldramon asked.

“I dunno.” Reavmon replied. “Now, where were we?”

OOOOO

Night had come when Tamas and Jalith finally descended from the tower, the former pursued by the latter, both of them panting in exhaustion and severely perturbed to find Saldramon and Reavmon playing a game in the sand.

“What… in the God-Emperor’s holy Imperium… are you doing?” Tamas gasped out at the sight. Reavmon dismissed the question with a casual wave of his hand.

“We’re only supposed to fight in you two’s places, so there’s no point fighting when you two are flailing around trying to hit each other.” The black canine said.

“Cut that out… right now.” Jalith demanded, equally out of breath as Tamas.

“Why did you two stop fighting?”

“We didn’t.” Tamas said, point at Jalith. “As soon I catch my breath, I am going to lay this idiot flat on the ground.”

“You’re the idiot.” Jalith replied. “You’d never hit me.”

“As soon as I catch my breath, I will make you pay for that. Idiot.”

“So…” Reavmon said. “Are we going to keep fighting or what?”

“Of course not.” Jalith said. “We’re going to regroup with the necron until you get your strength back, and then give this mon-keigh a proper punishment.”

“Would you stop calling me a monkey? Or at least say it right?” Tamas asked, starting to walk back in the direction where he had left his companions behind while the digital beings followed dutifully.

“Hey, why are you following me?” Jalith asked.

“It’s not following if I’m in front of you.” Tamas said. “I’m going back to my companions, xenos swine. You’re the one following me.”

“No, I’m going back to my servants, and your cleverly trying to cut me off.”

“As soon as I catch my breath, I’m warning you…”

OOOOO

“Remind me again why we haven’t harmed him?” Rhia asked, looking down on Sediba whose hands had been tied behind his back with loose wires.

“So we can interrogate him.” Mesme replied.

“…That’s surprisingly sensible.”

“Yeah, well I know you wouldn’t accept an appeal to common decency.”

“Do not take him lightly, his race made a terrible pact-“

“That had nothing to do with me!” Sediba protested.

“Silence, necrontyr, you will be-“ Rhia’s threat was cut of as the sound of loud arguing came. Everyone was quite surprised to see Tamas and Jalith walk in, no matter how loudly they were throwing threats and insults at each other.

“What’s he doing here?” Mesme asked.

“Stalking me while I’m too weak to fight, devilish dusk-wraith that he is.” Tamas replied.

“No you’re the one trying to cut me off using lame excuses about allies, of which I see none.” Jalith barked back.

“Hey were right here, idiot.” Piramon called out.

“You don’t seriously expect me to believe a human calls ‘xenos’ his companions?” Jalith hissed back in reply. The whole group began to devolve into a mass of shouting and arguing, even the calmer heads only adding more noise to the fight.

Just when it seemed that blows would be struck, everyone was silenced by the sudden appearance of what looked like a servo skull, sweeping in and scanning every mortal and digital being one by one. When it was done, the floating skull drifted back.

“Oh good, you’re all here.” The skull said, clipped and polite in its speech. “And here I was thinking you’d all be at each other’s throats.” Tamas tilted his head to get a better look at the strange intruder. “Oh, excuse me.”

The glassy orb implanted in the eye socket of the skull shimmered and shone its light down onto the ground, generating a hologram of a techpriest at half the proper scale. Living on a factory world, Tamas had seen many techpriests before, and this one looked relatively unaugmented from what his robes exposed, with only a single eye replaced by the glass orb of an augmented system, and his right hand was obviously bionic.

“I am Antigonus,” The holographic techpriest said through the skull’s speakers. “Former Magos of the Adeptus Mechanicus, now invested in much larger things. This skull is one of many I sent out to gather you and your partners together, but you seemed to have discovered each other on your own.

“Now, Chosen Children, you must discover your destiny.”


	6. The Ancient Sage, the Eternal Martyr

“Scarabmon, how are you doing on those bonds?” Sediba yelled.

“I’m sorry sir, but removing these bonds would be much easier if you would quit jostling me.” Scarabmon, four legs busy clinging to the back of his tamer while his forelimbs tried to untangle the mess of wires Mesme had wrapped around Sediba’s wrists.

“Well I’m sorry, but I’m busy running away from a bloodthirsty eldar so I can regroup with an insane eldar who is busy racing a human.”

“I thought we were trying to go to-“

“Yes well, in case you hadn’t noticed, that human was completely oblivious.” Sediba growled, remembering what had started this four-part chase in the first place.

OOOOO

_“Wait, what?” Tamas had said in response._

_“You’re the Chosen Children. Well the Chosen Children of this particular realm of existence during this period of time, but you are the Chosen Children I was looking for, all five of you.” Antigonus repeated in response._

_“Five? So is Spirimon too old to count as a child?”_

_“What? No, the digital beings aren’t included in that count. I meant the five children from the physical plane.”_

_“Is my hearing bad?” Jalith had said, stalking over to the hologram. “Because I just heard you put me in the same group as the human.”_

_“I’m not the one who picked you, I just went looking for you.” Antigonus responded._

_“And why should I listen to you, mon-keigh?”_

_“Because-“_

_“You have a way home.” Tamas had interrupted._

_“I know how you can find a way home.” Had been Antigonus’s response. “To the north you will find an ancient warrior in a stone temple, and it is he who knows your true destiny.”_

OOOOO

“Ha, first!” Jalith crowed as he slammed his foot onto the stone doors of the temple. In the next second he flinched to the side as Tamas’s boot hammered through the space Jalith’s body had been occupying.

“You tripped me.” Tamas yelled, throwing a wild swing at Jalith’s head.

“Show me proof or it didn’t happen.”

“You mean you forgot about it already?” Reavmon asked, coming up from behind. Jalith turned around and glared at Reavmon, who simply shrugged. Before anything else could be said, the three people who had already reached the temple were interrupted by a frantic Sediba.

“Are you done yet?” Sediba yelled.

“I can barely hold on!” Scarabmon replied.

“Why is he running so fast?” Saldramon asked, stomping behind Sediba.

“Can’t talk, feeling sick.” Scarabmon said. Sediba reached the steps of the temple and turned his back to Jalith.

“Quick, cut me loose.” The necron said. Jalith unsheathed his knife and cut through the wires wrapped around Sediba’s wrists in one smooth stroke, making a great show of licking the blade before putting it back in its sheath. “Come on, we need to take shelter in here before the eldar arrives.” Sediba said, rubbing the skin of his wrists.

“Wait, I’m you guys’ enemy.” Tamas said, pointing toward Jalith and Reavmon.

“I thought that human from the hologram said we were part of the same group.” Sediba said sarcastically.

“Because he was obviously delusional.” Jalith replied, missing it completely. “I’ve been trying to get my revenge on this human ever since he beat my partner. That’s what the trap at the tower was about, remember?”

“This is the human you keep talking about?” Sediba asked, nodding towards Tamas. Jalith and Reavmon looked at him dumb faced. “What? My assumption would be that if the human really provoked such a strong emotional response then you would attack him whenever a good opportunity, such as now, presented itself, and you would use the most efficient weapon available, in this case your dagger.” Sediba paused. “So, why aren’t you attacking him right now?”

“Come on, don’t you have a sense of class?” Jalith responded

“And you?” Tamas asked.

“Okay, style then. I need to have style.”

By then Mesme and Spirimon reached the temple, Mesme carrying Piramon on her head and Spirimon holding Rhia in his arms.

“Put me down, Spirimon, it’s time to finish this.” Rhia said.

“No, not when I’m right next to the maniac.” Tamas said, waving frantically and nodding towards Jalith. Before they could fight, though, the stone doors of the temple began to groan as they slowly opened.

“Oh please, the doors open by themselves?” Reavmon said.

“Well obviously.” Scarabmon replied. “A door shouldn’t need help doing its job.”

“Shut up and get in the temple.” Jalith said. “You, distract the craftworlder.” He added while pointing his fingering.

“Me?” Tamas said, pointing to himself. Jalith paused and frowned, remembering his current situation.

“Stay here until we can set up an ambush.” Jalith said before turning and sprinting into the depths of the temple with his partner, Sediba and Scarabmon following close behind.

“Wait, no!” Tamas yelled, running in after him. Everyone else was left to stare at the disappearing figures.

“Hey, why aren’t you with your tamer?”  Piramon asked Saldramon.

“He didn’t ask me to go with.” Saldramon replied, crossing his arms stubbornly.

“You’re his partner, you’ve got to stay with him.”

“Stop bickering, we can’t let them escape.” Rhia said, and Spirimon made his way into the depths of the temple, followed by Mesme and a reluctant Saldramon.

OOOOO

Jalith stuck out a foot and skidded to a halt a he came to the end of the temple, the path ending at the bare stone platform a giant figure in white robes sat upon. One by one the other tamers and digital beings came to a stop behind Jalith.

“Oh, come on.” Jalith yelled. “Those are mon-keigh robes. That idiot sent us to a mon-keigh for advice.”

“At least he’s not a lying eldar.” Tamas said, stepping up and planting himself right next to Jalith.

“Well at least if he was lying to us then he’d actually know something and we could cut it out of him.”

“Yeah right, you couldn’t stop him from lying, it’s a physical compulsion.” The robed figure let out a deep sigh and rubbed his hand against his forehead, revealing a huge furred claw.

“I suppose you two are the rivals then.” He said. Dead silence followed.

“Rivals?” Jailth said softly. “Rivals?” He said again louder. When the robed figure didn’t respond, Jalith continued. “Rivals implies that this thing,” He said as he pointed at Tamas. “Is my equal, which, being a mon-keigh, he is not.”

“Yes, you’re definitely the rivals.” The sage said, ignoring Jalith’s protests. “So, you’re the chosen children-“

“What does that mean?” Tamas interrupted, waving his arms at everyone else around. “How can these be of the same set as me?”

“There will be tensions, yes.” The sage said. “There are always tensions, and fears, and anger. True strength comes with costs, and if we did not pay those costs we would be part of the evil that gnaws at this world, and not the ones chosen to stop it.”

“Evil? Costs? Don’t make me laugh.” Jalith responded. “I can already see what’s going on. You and that other human are going to stay in your little hideouts while we go risk our necks for your little games, and we’re supposed to believe it’s ‘good’ and ‘just’. Well I’m not here to pay your costs-“

“My costs?” the sage growled, shifting in agitation. “Have you ever died, dark child? I know your perverse technology would bring you back.”

“You say that as if anyone could kill me.”

“No, I say that because I have died.” The sage said, pointing his furry hand at himself. “Every time darkness and destruction threatened this world and the physical one I had to pay the ultimate price. Every brave-hearted being on this plane will give it’s life if that is what it takes to protect you children and I will not let you dismiss that.”

“If you died so many times then why are you still here?” Sediba asked. “Do you mean a true death, or only the destruction of the body.”

“It is as true a death as a digital being can have.” The sage replied. “The body is erased and the mind is shattered, and only the data is left. It takes much power for the data to reform in its original form, and only the most ancient or mortal-empowered beings can reform with the same mind as they once had. “

With a grunt the sage settled down and paused. The air hung heavy as the children realized that something was troubling the sage.

“And that brings us to why you are here.” The sage said. “We only realized the true extent of what was happening after the great war, but something has interrupted the natural cycle of death, something dark-“ Before the sage could say another word the air was cut by a sharp, shrieking laugh from the front of the temple, making the children turn to face the intruder.

“Well, if it isn’t my lucky day.” The grotesque thing said. Its skin was a fleshy red and stretched taut over its alien ribs that sat at the center of four arms while a pair of double jointed legs supported it. The bald, egg-like head sneered with teeth the size of knives as the monster brandished its bone-sword and cracked its whip. “Finding you all in one place, how exquisite. Now I-“

“Tyramon, champion level virus, alien warrior type.” The sage said, interrupting the monster’s performance. In one smooth motion the sage stood and threw off his white robe, showing his form for the first time. The orange furred humanoid stood as tall and as strong as a space marine, bare to the waist to show his powerful figure and warrior nature. His proud mane waved in the wind made by his thrown robe, and his eyes burned with an intensity none of the children had ever seen in their lives.

“You will not harm these children, Tyramon, nor will you stand in the way of destiny.” The sage said. “I, ancient martyr Leomon, shall put an end to you!” Leomon jumped into the air, almost enough to reach the temple’s ceiling, and drew back one arm while extending the other, roaring in fury. “Fist of the Falcon!”

Flames erupted around Leomon’s fist as he descend and slammed his fist straight into Tyramon’s chest, driving him into the floor and sending him sliding until he crashed against a stone pillar. Tyramon coughed as his body blurred and reset. Leomon calmly stood up from where he had landed in a crouch, but before he could speak the temple filled with the soft sound of jazzy music, unfamiliar to any of the children.

“Man, you can never trust a virus.” A voice said, soft and smooth. “Turn your back for one moment and they start acting like they’re in charge.” The speaker looked like something like an orangutan, but with circular yellow spectacles on his face and gaudy rings on his giant finger, rings that squealed as he dragged his long arms across the floor.

“Jokaeromon.” Leomon said darkly.

“Thank you, thank you very much.” The intruder said, waving an arm. “It’s been forever since we last saw each other.”

“Almost thirty-nine thousand years.” Leomon replied, shifting to put himself between the monkey and the children.

“Ha, what a time that was.” Jokareomon said, giving a short laugh, before suddenly pausing. “WHEN YOU DELETED ME!” He suddenly screamed, shocking the children and making them edge back. Leomon stood his ground and kept calm as he replied.

“I didn’t survive that encounter either.”

“Who cares? You wouldn’t have had a problem if you stayed out of my way. I had plans. I- eh, that’s all in the past. Kinda’ like you, really. What’s so scary about reformatting?” Leomon refused to reply, and Jokaeromon waved him off. “Never mind. Now, kids,” He said looking past Leomon to the children and digital beings behind him. “I want to make a deal…”

“Enough of this!” Leomon said.

“What?” Jokaeromon asked, squinting to see if he had missed something. He jerked back as Leomon drew back his arm and began to roar.

“Fist of the-“ Leomon was cutoff as Jokaeromon suddenly curled his hand and fired a scarlet beam of light from one of his rings, carving out a hole in Leomon’s chest. For a moment the two digital beings regarded each other with equal looks of surprise, but Jokaeromon twisted his face into a look of contempt and lowered his arm as he watched Leomon fall to the ground.

“Center…“ Leomon said, struggling to speak as his body dissolved. “Go down to…” Before he could finish, he was already gone, his shards draining into the ground.

“Now as I was saying-“ Jokaermon began, waving an arm around pointlessly.

“We’ll never work with you, monster.” Tamas said, stepping forward from the group. “Saldramon-“

“Oh come on.” Jokaeromon moaned. “You know what? I don’t have to deal with this. Tyramon, get up. We’re leaving.” Tyramon moaned as he grabbed at the pillar and pulled himself up.

“Now? They’re-“ He asked.

“We’d turn ’em into paste. Just send in the Hormamon to deal with them.” With that Jokaeromon left the temple, Tyramon following close behind and waving angrily at the children, promising to return.

“So, what now?” Jalith asked.

“Uh…” Was all Tamas could think up in reply. Before anymore could be said, there was a rumbling and a hoarded of digital beings flooded in, cutting the children off from the exit. The creatures were purple, scaly, and crouched low to the ground like animals, with plates of flak armor hanging on their back and combat blades clutched in their claws.

“Ah, so those are Hormamon.” Sediba said with total obliviousness.

“Well thanks, got anything useful.” Piramon said. Sediba tilted his eyes from his D-Spex.

“Well, seeing as they aren’t attacking us there’s not really any need to do anything.”  The Hormamon horde responded with a chorus of hisses, waving their knives wildly.

“It’s not like they’re going to let us out.” Tamas said.

“Hey kid.” Reavmon said, nodding towards Saldramon. “Wanna’ play a game?”

“What?” Saldramon asked, tilting his head in confusion at the flippant remark.

“Most kills wins.” With that said, Reavmon turned and charged the Hormamon.

“Then a fight it is.” Spirimon said. “Protect the children!” He yelled as he and Saldramon charged forward to join Reavmon. Each one proved a devastating force as they hit the line one by one. Arms swung while fire and ice erupted through the enemy lines, shattering Hormamon with a single touch. Piramon and Scarabmon chose to stay by their partners, attacking from afar. Even with all the damage they dealt, the digital beings barely dented the horde of enemies, and the three in the front quickly found each of themselves surrounded.

Matters only got worse when one of Piramon’s bubbles caught Reavmon, and it was luck that one of Saldramon’s claws slashed through the bubble before a Hormamon could finish Reavmon off. Tamas tore his eyes away from the fight in fear of Jalith’s anger. When he saw that the dark eldar wasn’t there, he looked around wildly until he finally saw Jalith in the back of the temple, entering a passageway that had been hidden behind a sheet of stone.

Tamas instantly knew what he had to do.

“Guys, Jalith found a way out.” Everyone turned to see where Tamas was pointing, and Mesme and Sediba were quick to move towards the new exit.

“Spirimon, we’ve found an escape.” Rhia called out.

“Get everyone else out.” Spirimon replied as he used two Hormamon as flails. “I will cover the escape.”

“Fine by me.” Reavmon hissed, ducking a Hormamon’s attack before rolling out of the melee and heading for the exit.

“Saldramon, come on!” Tamas yelled, but his words only fell on deaf ears. Saldramon had become caught up in the fight, roaring like a wild monster as he fought, ignoring the knives that cut his back and arms. “Saldramon!” Tamas yelled again. Now some of the Hormamon started to turn their attention away from the two digital beings destroying everything they touched, and started to look towards Tamas.

“Child, your tamer calls you.” Spirimon roared. Tilting forward he forced his way through the horde and grabbed Saldramon by the neck, hurtling him away to land at Tamas’s feet.

“Come on, boy.” Tamas said, helping the green reptile up and leading him away from the fight.

OOOOO

“Well, now we know they won’t follow us.” Rhia said as they watched Spirimon emerge from the collapsing temple. “Their leaders aren’t anywhere around here either.”

“Which is far more troubling than if they were.” Jalith added.

“As long as we’re alive there’s a chance to change things.” Tamas said, staring into the distance as he held a sleeping Saldramon’s head in his lap. A net of blurry wounds covered the reptile’s back, and he moaned as he slept.

“They’ll come back.” Jalith said, eyes darting around to scan his surroundings. “They’ll look here and anywhere else I’d run to.”

“So we’ll hide under their chins.” Mesme said, smiling but shaking from the attack. “They want us to run, they want to chase us. If we go to them, they’ll never see us.”

“Us?” Reavmon said skeptically, busy rubbing a shallow wound he had gotten during the fight.

“Strength in numbers.” Sediba replied. “Its only logical.”

“Until this over.” Spirimon said. “We can settle our feuds once this is finished. Is this agreed?” Just his eyeless glance was enough to make Jalith straighten himself. Tamas shifted around to look at the rest of the group. One by one he met their eyes, alien, digital or nonexistent though they may be.

“Why not?” He said. “All that junk those guys said back there? I think I just got sick of not knowing what’s happening.”

“Well, so am I, mon-keigh.” Jalith said. “I’ll deal with you once the monkey’s out of our way.” Spirimon turned to face Rhia, who sighed and turned away.

“And I will tolerate the necron’s presence for now.”

“Even if we hate each other, we can still fight together.” Mesme said. “We need to survive, because that’s what living is.”


	7. Oasis

"Hey, would you mind not staring at me? Your inferiority might start rubbing off." Jalith said.

"Come on, you'll attack me the second I look away." Tamas said. His face was red and sweating, and his breathing was as ragged as Mesme's and Sediba's. "Ugh, I haven't had a good meal in days." Tamas rubbed his stomach for emphasis, and then widened his eyes in horror as he realized he hadn't had _any_ meals since he arrived in the Digital Plane.

Saldramon grunted in reply, scooping a stone off of the ground and nibbling it. All of the children besides Rhia stared at him.

"What." Sediba said.

"I don't know what you're confused about," Scarabmon said. "Rocks have data and energy just like anything else. Of course, it's not particularly beneficial data for organic type beings, unlike you'd find in meats or breads and…" Scarabmon looked around at the children and hesitated. "… That's not how it works in the other world at all, is it?"

"Not even close." Jalith said.

"Uh, where could you get real food?" Mesme asked, "This place doesn't exactly have much."

"I've been leading us there all day." Reavmon announced, interrupting the conversation.

"Jeez, couldn't you tell us earlier?" Piramon said. Tamas was too weary to care how little the fish-thing had been saying, but the fact that she kept smiling was more than a little creepy. Reavmon grunted in reply and pointed ahead, to where the roof of a wooden building started to appear over the crest of a hill.

OOOOO

"What is this place?" Tamas asked as he stared at the walls made of wood and paper, materials too shabby even for imperial construction.

"I don't know why you're asking me." Jalith said with a sniff. "This place is clearly human."

"The fallen one has more experience in this matter, but I agree that this kind of construction could only be human." Rhia said with a sage nod.

"I've never even heard of this kind of construction, how can this possibly be human." Tamas said as he tried to read the strange runes painted on the walls.

"Well, I can't say about the specifics, but the layout looks a lot like the other human buildings I've been in." Mesme said, pointing to the doorways and the desk in front of them as if it was self-explanatory.

"You, green guy, help me out here." Tamas said, pointing at Sediba. The necron twitched and bit at his lips.

"Well, I don't any personal experience to rely upon." Sediba said. Tamas smiled hopefully. "But the data I have recently acquired seems to indicate that this is the most human building ever made."

"Oh, come on!" Tamas yelled.

"You!" the group turned their heads to see something squat, humanoid, and covered in bulky robes and a tri-cornered hat standing in one of the inner doorways and pointing at Reavmon. "Build a bath-house you said, all the best tamers were from 'Japan' you said. That's the first human I've seen in seven years and he's white." Reavmon, for his part, seemed to be more interested in his claws.

"White? What does that mean?" Tamas whispered to Saldramon.

"I don't know. You look brown to me." Saldramon grunted, turning his head away.

The squat person coughed and walked behind the counter, stepping onto something so he could be eye level with the five kids.

"Well, I need all the business I can get, so show me the money kids. Oh, and don't worry about the currency, I've got an in with a money changer."

Tamas stuck his hand to his coat's pockets and pulled out the few deci-thrones he had scraped off the floors of Telris Hive.

"Um, does any… one… Tamas' eyes looked over his companions. Mesme was shivering in fear, Rhia was angrily muttering something under her breath, Sediba didn't look like he had anywhere to fit any kind of money even though he was furiously tapping on his glowing green orb, and none of the digital beings were making any kind of move to pay.

"Very well, since I want you penniless beggars' help, I'll cover the expenses this time." Jalith said. He flicked his arm out, and a small pile of squares made of black metal fell on the counter. The squat thing sucked in its breath and took half the pile, leaving Jalith to take back the other half.

"Very well," the thing said. "My name is Rogutamamon, and I am happy to welcome _most_ of you-" Rogutamamon glared at Reavmon. "to the Pax Digitus, your rooms are the first two after the door on the right, and the baths are through the door on the left, just past the changing rooms."

"Baths?" Tamas asked. "Why are their baths?"

"Huh? This is a bath-house. The bath's are for the customers." Rogutamamon said.

"How long do we get?" Tamas' hands were twitching nervously, and he had an odd grin on his face.

"Well, if you stay in too long you'll probably faint but-" before Rogutamamon could finish Tamas had sprinted through the left door, leaving everyone else behind looking very confused.

"Did I… miss something?" Scarabmon asked.

"Well, a swim does sound good to me." Piramon said. "Come on, Mesme lets join him."

OOOOO

Tamas let out another sigh as he sank a little deeper into the bubbling water.

"All I need now is a glass of peasant tears and I'd be like real nobility." he said.

"No human could ever match the pointlessly dark excess of real nobility!" Tamas opened his eyes to see Jalith beaming at him from the other side of the bath, with Sediba sitting quietly beside him.

"I see the 'Men' sign didn't refer to species." Tamas said, his spirits dropping. "Are Mesme and Rhia coming? What about the digital beings?"

"We are split by gender and origin, it seems." Sediba said.

"So you're a guy? I was wondering." Tamas said.

"Well, this bath-house wasn't made with necrontyr sexual dimorphism in mind, but there were only two options for people from the physical plane, and neither you nor Jalith have tried to kill me, so if the other eldar asks tell her I am most definitely male." Sediba said. Tamas shifted his gaze from Sediba to Jalith.

"Now that I think about, its too late to say I'm female, isn't it?" Tamas said.

"Disappointed about missing the sights?" Jalith asked. Tamas chuckled dryly.

"Hell no. One of them's a xenos and the other looks like a brat." Tamas said.

"Take that back." Jalith shouted. "Eldar look nothing like humans."

"Yeah, but I can't ignore the fact that she looks the same age as my sister." Tamas replied calmly. Jalith's tone shifted immediately

"You have a sister?" He asked, his voice filled with glee.

"Say another word and I'll…" Tamas paused. "Gouge your eyes out."

"Just my eyes?" Jalith said. "Amatuer." Tamas sighed.

"Well." he muttered. "This can't be that much worse than alien girl talk."

OOOOO

"You are really boring." Mesme said. Rhia continued to sit in the bath with her eye's closed.

OOOOO

"Did you really tell a guy to make a bath-house all the way out here?" Piramon asked as she swam laps around a bath much bigger than either of the ones for physical beings. "Not that I'm complaining. Living in a desert sucks."

"I joked about it, yeah, but I thought he started it as a side venture." Reavmon said with a casual wave of his arm. "I didn't think he was this serious about it."

"And honestly, that kind of judgement completely disregards the Rhanadandramon incident, among many others." Scarabmon said from his position on the side of the bath. "What were you even thinking?"

"It was a group of us all trading stories about all the disasters humans got involved in, since they started the Great War too. I just thought it would be funny to make a business out of it." Reavmon said.

"The Great War." Saldramon said slowly. He was lying down next to Scarabmon, but he lifted his head when he heard those words.

"That 'sage' mentioned it too." Spirimon said. He was sitting cross legged in the bath near enough to talk with the others. "What he said about the cycle, do you think it was true?" Reavmon's expression straightened.

"I hope not." Reavmon said. "I really do. But those robes, and that title he gave himself." Reavmon trailed off, pausing before he resumed talking. "I've heard rumors of an order that calls themselves the Ancients. Digital beings that used to have tamers thousands of years ago and still have their memories after reincarnation. I heard they were behind the scenes of a lot of things back during the Great War. If anyone had stumbled across a reality altering evil, they'd be the kind of people I'd wager on."

"Then let them deal with it." Piramon said as she came back around. "This is way over our heads."

"But we are chosen ones." Scarabmon said. "We're chosen partners of chosen children. The sage even recognized us."

"The sage was guessing." Reavmon said. "And the human admitted he was identifying us based on second hand information. Even if there are chosen children, he could have been wrong."

"How?" Scarabmon said. "Did he find the wrong group of humans, tau, eldar and necrons?"

"The grouping itself is a problem." Spirimon said. Scarabmon turned to face him. "Tell me, do you know what the necron and the eldar did to each other? Or what the eldar have done to themselves? Not even common enemies have overcome such hatred."

"But we're not enemies." Scarabmon said. "And we don't have to help them fight each other."

"Yes we do." Saldramon said. He pushed himself up so he was kneeling. "We are partners. We have to fight for them. That's our duty, right?" Reavmon sighed.

"No wonder you live out here." he said. Reavmon looked Scarabmon in the eyes. "Look kid, I'm know you want to get out of here. I know you want to make the universe play fair. But life will never hand you happiness, even if you are a chosen one."

"It's not about happiness. If I need to suffer then I will do so, no matter what." Scarabmon said. He and Reavmon sat there exchanging glares for a few tense seconds, but before anyone could speak up a ringing bell broke the silence.

OOOOO

Tamas unconsciously rubbed the robe he had been given to wear after the bath. It was the softest thing he had ever worn but he could tell that it didn't come from the world he knew, even if it was meant to copy human patterns. At least it actually looked human. The group of ten had met back up and were following Rogutamamon down a hall. when he reached the end he slid open the door to present two tables set with food. One tables was set high up with chairs around it and the other was set close to the floor with only flat pads surrounding it. As Tamas naturally gravitated to the table with chairs, he didn't notice Reavmon hanging back at the door.

"'Chosen Ones', huh?" Rogutamamon said. "Are you sure its not-"

"If it was just a scam I'd be hunting the guy down by now. And no, I didn't start this." Reavmon said. "Also, its bad form to spy on guests."

"I hear what I hear." Rogutamamon shrugged. "So what is your scam?"

"No scam. I'm trying to improve myself."

"Ah. ha. ha."

"Seriously. Do you think I chose that kid for my enjoyment?" Reavmon pointed to Jalith, who was currently busy trying to time the shouting of swear words while Tamas was reciting the longest prayer he could remember.

"Point taken." Rogutamamon said.

OOOOO

Once everyone was seated and ready to eat, the children finally noticed a problem. There was plenty of exotic (human) food set in front of them, but the only possible utensils were a pair of sticks at each place. Immediately, they looked over to where the digital beings were simply eating with their appendages.

"I suppose that would be the human method of eating?" Sediba said

"No, this is the most human place ever built." Tamas said. "And that's why they provided sticks to eat with."

"Yeah, these are definitely what I'd expect from humans." Jalith said as he rolled one of the sticks between his fingers.

"I'm sure you've used much worse things to eat." Rhia said.

"No, but we'd do it because its funny." Jalith said. "Humans were dead serious when they decided to eat with these." Absentmindedly, Tamas stuck on of the sticks into a bowl of rice, and was quite surprised when the rice didn't start shifting apart like the kind of dry grains he was used to.

"Come on, can we stop fighting?" Mesme said. "There's nothing wrong with you eating with your hands."

" 'You'?" Sediba asked.

"Yeah, well-" Jalith was cut off by Rhia.

"Wait. The mon-keigh's figured it out." she declared. Everyone's gaze shifted to Tamas who stopped to stare back at them. His hand was halfway between the table and his mouth, two sticks clenched parallel in his fist while they balanced a chunk of moist rice on top. Before anyone could interrupt him he quickly pushed the rice into his mouth and chewed.

"Slice of sweet bread." he said.

OOOOO

The sound of clanking gears and sparking electricity surrounded Jokaeromon, barely muffled by the holographic walls of his office. All of the walls had been temporarily set to black after Jokaeromon's unexpected guest had arrived. He let out a short loud sigh, and began talking.

"First off, this isn't where you meet me, so none of this counts as official. If you want this to be official, meet me in the city. Second off, I already know there's nothing out here you guys want so stop pretending you'll waste your time and troops attacking. And third off, your all wackjobs who need to grow up. That's not an official statement, by the way. Since this isn't where you meet me."

The other person in the room was only a rookie, but he didn't show any emotion in response to Jokaeromon, only a polite nod. The rookie stood on two feet but hunched over, a frame of metal poles resting on his pack and protruding a rusty spike on either side of the rookie's head. His scaly skin was grey and dry, and with red welts surrounding the claws on hands as big as a child's head. And on the back of his head were a pair of horns.

"One of them is here." The rookie said. "You met him."

"How did you- wait, nevermind. I don't want to know." Jokaeromon said. "He's an exile, by the way."

"Then he can be saved in this lifetime." the rookie replied.

"Yeah. Saved." Jokaeromon. "So is it just you or-"

"One fallen, one brother." The rookie replied.

"'And its just an in and out deal?"

"If you wish to pledge yourself-"

"No." Jokaeromon said quickly. He brought up one long arm so his hand could stroke his chin. This wasn't a situation where he could appeal to the other party's reason. Now that he had arrived, the only question was whether he would decide Jokaeromon needed to be purged. "I've really been trying to establish my... credentials as the neutral lord of the wasteland, and letting you just run around would really ruin that style. But…" Jokaeromon nodded. There was one more important thing to consider. "Screw those brats. I was going to hunt them down anyways, and they started it, so I'll just blame them. You can join my hunters if you want. Can't let you lead any troops, of course, but I'll tell them to heavily consider your advice."

"I thank you for you assistance." The rookie said. One claw thumped his chest. "In the name of the Brotherhood."

"Yeah, yeah." Jokaeromon said. "Now scram. I need to make an announcement."

**Author's Note:**

> So Yeah, the idea behind this started up after i finished watching the dub of Tamers. I rank low on the fanboy scale for digimon and high for 40k, but Tamers was a really good anime, and I felt the need to follow up on the experience, so I came up with this.
> 
> Ideally, if my theories are correct, this will be a perfect fusion, a weaving together of each series's parts into a single, cohesive whole, with neither taking precedence.
> 
> On the other hand, I suck at finishing long stories.


End file.
